Roger
Penske is not only the most recognizable name in American motorsports,
but a man who commands respect in the international
racing community as well.
The "Captain" has been racing and winning in the
United States since 1958 and has scored victories in every
series where he has competed. With 22 national championships,
including 12 in Indy car racing, Penske Racing has often been
referred to as the "New York Yankees of motorsports."
 Roger Penske was one of America's most successful young road
racers before electing to retire from driving in 1965 to focus
on his first business - a Philadelphia Chevrolet dealership.
However, racing remained a key element in Penske's overall
business plan. He fielded Corvettes in the 1966 endurance races
at Daytona and Sebring prior to joining forces with driver
Mark Donohue to campaign a Lola T70 in the USRRC and Can-Am
sports car series. Penske Racing quickly found success with
Donohue, winning two consecutive USRRC championships and three
SCCA Trans-Am titles.
After three years of campaigning sedans and sports cars, Penske
Racing and Donohue made their debut in Indy car racing, running
a pair of USAC-sanctioned road races in 1968. The following
year, the team made its debut in the Indianapolis 500 and Donohue
finished seventh, earning "Rookie-of-the-Year" honors.
With Donohue, Penske Racing quickly made its mark in the USAC Championship Series
utilizing high standards of car preparation, presentation and development. Donohue
finished second at Indianapolis in 1970 and he recorded the team's first Championship
Car victory in the Pocono 500 on July 3, 1971. Donohue earned Penske's first
Indianapolis 500 triumph less than a year later with an average speed that would
remain the race record for a dozen years. Since then, Penske Racing has become
synonymous with Indy car racing, with 138 victories, 176 poles and 12 National
Championships. Penske Racing, however, is probably best known for its 14 Indianapolis
500 victories, four with driver Rick Mears.
Even though Penske Racing is legendary in open-wheel racing, it hasn't confined
its endeavors to that form of motorsports.
Penske made its NASCAR debut in 1972, the same season the team earned its first
Indy 500 victory with Donohue at the wheel.
 Continuing to compete in NASCAR, the Can-Am Series and in Indy cars, Penske Racing
also debuted its Formula 1 car in 1970s. With
legendary racers Tom Sneva, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears and Bobby Unser, Al Unser
and Danny Sullivan competing for the
team, Penske Racing established itself as an Indy car powerhouse
throughout the 70s and 80s.
A Penske entry was fielded in NASCAR's premier series through
1977 with Donohue collecting one victory and Bobby Allison recording
four wins. Penske reappeared in 1980 for a brief two-race stint
with Missouri native Rusty Wallace, fielding a car for the young
driver's NASCAR debut at Atlanta.
Following a 10-year hiatus from NASCAR competition, Penske Racing
South was established in 1991 with Wallace and long-time Penske
business associate Don Miller as the team's co-owners.
 For 16 straight years, Wallace won at least one NASCAR race each
season, tying him for third on the all-time list for the most
consecutive seasons with at least one victory. He also finished
in the top 10 in the series standings in 12 of his 15 seasons
driving for Penske Racing. By the end of the 2005 season, 37
of Wallace's 55 career victories had come under the Penske Racing
banner.
A new generation of open-wheel stars ushered in a new decade
for Team Penske as Gil de Ferran claimed back-to-back CART titles
in 2000 and '01 and Helio Castroneves scored consecutive Indy
500 victories in '01 and '02.
By 2001, Penske Racing flourished as a multi-car NASCAR operation
with Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield and Ryan Newman leading the way
on the track.
Sam Hornish Jr. came aboard in 2004 and he led the Penske squad
to its first IndyCar Series title in 2006.
Wallace retired from Cup competition after the 2005 season, closing
the door on one of the most storied careers in racing. Kurt Busch,
the 2004 NASCAR Cup titleholder, joined Penske Racing in 2006
as Wallace transitioned to the broadcast booth.
More than 30 years after winning at the highest levels of sports
car racing, Penske returned to its roots late in the 2005 season,
announcing an LMP2-class effort with Porsche in the American
Le Mans Series. The squad had a remarkable homecoming, capturing
the class championship with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr in
'06 before again earning titles in '07 and '08 with teammates
Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas.
Proven winners Busch and Newman led the charge for the Penske
Racing NASCAR program in 2008 with Hornish Jr. joining the mix
for his first full season of stock car racing. Highlighted by
a dramatic 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500 with Newman securing
Penske's first win in the "Great American Race" and
Busch finishing a close second, the team added to the Penske
Racing tradition of excellence.
In '09, David Stremme joined the team's NASCAR Cup Series
lineup alongside Hornish and Busch, who earned two wins and finished
fourth in the Chase for the Cup Series title. Rising NASCAR star
Justin Allgaier ran the team's first full Nationwide Series
season with new partner Verizon Wireless, and Allgaier captured
series Rookie-of-the-Year honors.
History has taught us through the years that winning is a tradition
carried on throughout all levels of Penske Racing and the 2010
season promises to add another exciting chapter to the chronicles
of this storied organization.
|
|
It's
a pretty cool opportunity. I think that we've got a lot of
cool things that we're going to accomplish here.
I look forward to driving for someone like Roger, who also has some deep ties
with the communities that we're from in Detroit. I feel really good about
that. I think that's going to be pretty cool. And just the whole program
in general -- everything is here to win with, and I feel like we can do that.
We're running full-time in the 12-Cup
Car for 2010, starting there. I look forward to that, as well as with plans to
still be completely determined as far as sponsorship. But we will be completely
competing in the Nationwide side, as well, for a championship. And I feel really
good about that, as well. I'm very confident in our efforts to do that.
So there are a lot of exciting things happening there.
I think that this is the right decision for me. I have been more than impressed
with everything that I saw at Penske Racing. And I look forward to
building it even stronger.
It
seems like it's a perfect match for you, with Roger and his
group. Going back to your days racing early in short tracks around
the Michigan area, what does this mean for you to be racing now
for what we call a home-based team up here, anyway, with Roger
in Birmingham and all his links to Detroit? How good does that
feel, Brad?
KESELOWSKI: It's certainly a good feeling. Penske Racing is a powerhouse
in the motorsports industry, even outside of the NASCAR world. The accomplishments
that they have had in the open-wheel world and so forth just speak volumes for
Mr. Penske's commitment to racing and the motorsports industry in general.
So I think that meant a lot to me throughout this process, just how deep that
commitment runs.
And then, obviously, the local tie-in with both being from the Detroit community – that
just makes it even stronger.
You know, I look at it that there are very few teams or motorsports companies
that can say that they have accomplished – I don't think that there
are any that can say that they have accomplished what Penske has in an entire
industry, but few can say that they have got the spectrum of accomplishments
that he has or anywhere near that, and in so many different forms of racing.
It's something to approach in awe, and with a deep respect and appreciation
for everything that he's done.
I want to be the guy that comes to Penske Racing and gets them their first NASCAR
championship. I want to be that guy. For everything that has been accomplished
here, that's the one thing
My
intent is to come to Penske Racing and to build a home for
the long-term future of my career. That's my full intent,
is to be successful and to accomplish those things.
There are very few teams at this level that have the resources to compete with
Hendrick Motorsports, and this is one of them. And in the decision-making process
that I went through, it became fairly evident that, no matter what route I went
down, I was going to have to build a team.
And building a team is more than just building cars or buying transporters, war
wagons, or pit boxes. It's about people, and it's about putting the
right people together and gelling and the chemistry that comes with that. No
matter what route I went down, it became obvious that I was going to have to
build that team. And this seemed like the best place to do that. That was a major
part of the component. All of the resources are here; it's just a matter
of building that chemistry and bonding with the right people to make it all happen.
And I think that can be done here.
I look at it that I've said all along that I wanted to run full-time in
both the Nationwide and the Cup levels. I feel that there is still an advantage
to be had there, even with the changes in car models and so forth. But they gave
me the opportunity here – Mr. Penske did – to do that.
And I think that is really important for me because I look at the Nationwide
level as a way for me to build up my sea legs here at Penske Racing. And that
might be the place where that first championship comes for them, on the NASCAR
level. And, certainly, the goal is still to do it on the Cup level – don't
get me wrong.
But it's a good foundation to set and a good way of training and building
people and chemistry from the ground floor up. And he was able to offer me that.
So full-time on both levels is something that I am very excited about.
|
